SWAHILI AUXILIARY VERBS
In Swahili two verbs are used as auxiliary verbs,namely,kuwa”,”to be”and kuisha,”to be completed “, This last verb is used as an auxiliary verb meaning”already “.
e.g.alikuwa akisoma tulipofika shuleni. He was reading when we arrived at school
Sasa baba atakuwa amefika. By now father will have arrived.
KUISHA
Wageni wamekwisha fika. The guests have already arrived.
Je,umekwisha ona Simba? Have you seen a lion?
Nimekwisha kukwambia,. I have already told you.
THE EKA AND IKA TENSES
The eka and IKA tenses denote a state; something has been done to the subject but no agent or doer is expressed.Observe the following sentences and note the difference between the stative and the passive forms:
Kisu kimevumjwa na mpishi,. The knife has been broken by a cook(passive).
Kisu kimevunjika. The knive has broken (stative)
Nguo imeraruliwa na mbwa. Her dress was torn by a dog (passive).
Children especially like this form because it does not implicate them.
e.g. A child says: mama,kikombe kimevunjika,”mother,I have broken the cup”
It should not be concluded from the examples given above that all verbs ending in ka are stative.A few examples will show you that this is not the case.consider:
Kupika ,to cook. Kupika ndizi ,to cook bananas
Kuzika,to burry kuzika maiti,to bury a dead man
Kuandika,to write. Kuandika barua,to write a letter
Kufunika, to cover. Kufunika kitu,to cover up something
Kutandika, to set in order. Kutandika kitanda, to make a bed
Kuweka,to put. Weka sahani mezani,put the plate on the table
We will continue with our topic next week.
